PRACTICAL 2

STUDY OF HIGH PRESSURE BOILERS Aim: - To study high pressure boilers like La-Mont boiler, Benson boiler, Loeffler boiler, Schmidt-Hartmann boiler. Introduction:To increase the efficiency of thermal (steam) power plant and to reduce the cost of electricity production, utilization of high pressure, high temperature steam is necessary. Due to this reason, demand for high pressure boilers has increased. The high pressure and heavy duty boilers are those steam generators, which produce steam in the range of 30 to 650 tones per hour with a pressure range from 60 to supercrtitical pressure and maximum steam temperature of about 5400 C. Special features of high pressure boilers:High pressure boilers have some special features over low and medium pressure boilers like forced circulation, small tubes, lack of drums, pressurized combustion, multiple tube circuits, compactness and low weight. Some of these features are discussed below. a) Method of Water Circulation:In high pressure boilers the water circulation is maintained by forced circulation with the help of pump. The forced circulation of water inside the tubes causes increased rate of heat transfer. It also helps to reduce tube diameter and hence provision of more number of water tubes in given space is possible. It also helps to reduce scale formation inside the tubes due to higher water velocity. b) Increased Area of Heating:The heat transfer area in high pressure boilers considerably increases due to adoption of more number of tubes of smaller diameter and due to construction of water walls. c) Improved Heating Method:1.High steam generation rate can be possible due to high steam generating pressure (above critical pressure). This is possible because no latent heat is needed to evaporate the water. 2.High steam generating rate can be possible by direct mixing of superheated steam to feed water. 3.With the help of high gas and water velocity high heat transfer rate can be achieved. 4.Due to adoption of pulverizing firing system high heat release can be possible. Types of High Pressure Boilers:A wide variety of high pressure boilers are available. Some common high pressure boilers are as under. A) La-Mont Boiler B) Benson Boiler C) Loeffler Boiler D) Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler A) La-Mont Boiler:A forced circulation boiler was first introduced in 1925 by La-Mont. The arrangement of water circulation and different components of La-Mont boiler is shown in figure-1. The feed water from hot-well is supplied to a storage and separating drum through the economizer. The most of the sensible heat is supplied to the feed water in

economizer. A centrifugal pump circulates the water equal to 8 to 10 times the weight of steam generated this water is circulated through the evaporator and the part of the water evaporated is separated in the separator drum. The large quantity of water circulated prevents the tubes from being overheated. The steam separated in the drum is further passed through the superheater and finally supplied to the prime mover. This boiler has been built to generate 45 to 50 tons of superheated steam at pressure of 120 atm. and at a temperature of 5000 C. B) Benson Boiler:Benson in 1922 argued that if the boiler pressure was raised to critical pressure (225 atm.), the steam and water have the same density and therefore the danger of bubble formation can be eliminated. The arrangement of Benson boiler components is shown in figure-2. The water after passing through economizer enters into the radiant evaporator, where majority of the water is converted into steam. The remaining water is evaporated in the final (convective) evaporator by absorbing the heat of hot gases by convection. The saturated high pressure steam at 225 atm. is further passes through the superheater and goes to prime mover in superheated condition. Major difficulty of salt deposition is experienced in the convective evaporator, where all remaining water converted into steam. To avoid this difficulty, the boiler (convective evaporator) is normally flashed out after every 4000 working hours to remove the salt. The maximum working pressure obtained in Benson boiler is 500 atm. with 150 tons per hour steam generation capacity. C) Loeffler Boiler:The major difficulty experienced in La-Mont boiler is the deposition of salt and sediment on the inner surface of the water tubes. This difficulty was solved in Loeffler boiler by preventing the flow of water into the boiler tubes. In Loeffler boiler most of he steam is generated outside from the feed water using part of superheated steam coming out from the boiler. The arrangement of the different components and water and steam circulation are shown in figure-3. The feed pump draws the water through the economizer and delivers it into the evaporator drum. About 65% of the steam coming out of superheater is passed through the evaporator drum in order to evaporate the feed water coming from economizer. The steam circulating pump draws the saturated steam from the evaporator drum and is passed through the radiant superheater and then convective superheater. About 35% of the steam coming out from the superheater is supplied to the H.P. turbine. The steam coming out from H.P. turbine is passed through reheater before supplying to L.P. turbine. The amount of steam generated in the evaporator drum is equal to the steam tapped (65%) from the superheater. The nozzles which distribute the superheated steam throughout the water into the evaporator drum are of special design and avoid priming and noise.

This boiler can carry higher salt concentration than any other type and is more compact than indirectly heated boilers having natural circulation. This quality fit it for land or sea transport power generation. Loeffler boiler with generating capacity of 100 tones per hour and operating at 140 bar are already commissioned. D) Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler:The arrangement of the boiler components is as per figure-4. The operation of the boiler is similar to an electric transformer. Two pressures (circuits) are used to effect and interchange of energy. In the primary circuit, the steam at 100 atm. is produced from distilled water. The generated steam is passed through a submerged heating coil which is located in an evaporator drum of secondary circuit. The high pressure steam in this coil possesses sufficient thermal potential and steam at 60 atm. with heat transfer rate of 2500 kcal/sq.m hr.0C is generated in the evaporator drum of secondary circuit. The steam produced in the evaporator drum from impure water is further passed through the superheater and then supplied to the prime mover. The high pressure condensate formed in the submerged heating coil is circulated through a low pressure feed heater on its way to raise the feed water temp to its saturation tem Therefore, only latent heat is supplied in the evaporator drum. Natural circulation is used in the primary circuit and this is sufficient to affect the desired rate of heat transfer and to overcome the thermo siphon head of about 2 m to 10 m. In normal circumstances, the replenishment of distilled water in the primary circuit is not required as every care is taken in design and construction to prevent the leakage. But as a safeguard against leakage, a pressure gauge and safety valve are fitted in the circuit. -----------------------------------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx---------------------------------List of figures: 1. La-Mont Boiler 2. Benson Boiler 3. Loeffler Boiler 4. Schmidt-Hartmann Boiler